


together forever, never apart

by junkeigo



Category: JO1 (Japan Band)
Genre: Gen, Graphic Description, Gun Violence, Implied Yonaruki too I guess, Just A Good Ol JO1 Family Dinner, Killing, M/M, Murder, Poisoning, Stabbing, Violence, You Have Been Warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:21:45
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26792083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junkeigo/pseuds/junkeigo
Summary: It's been years, and Takumi rejoins his fellow members for what supposedly is a simple get together dinner.
Relationships: Kawanishi Takumi/Kawashiri Ren, Kinjo Sukai/Ohira Shosei, Kono Junki/Sato Keigo
Comments: 9
Kudos: 18





	together forever, never apart

Takumi can see the silver car pull up to the side of the road, and he can almost already see Ren’s silhouette waving at him from the slightly tinted dashboard. 

He raps on the car window door twice, and it unlocks for him. He slides himself in with ease as he exchanges a quick Hi with Ren. The latter hasn’t changed much, except now he has black hair instead of his trademark silver. He looks the same as he was when he first met him, and Takumi isn’t the least bit surprised. Ren has always been gifted with the best everything.

“Sorry it took me quite a bit, there was light traffic near the highway.” Ren apologizes first and foremost, and Takumi gets reminded of how polite the older was. 

“No it’s fine, I wasn’t waiting long anyways, I just got out of the class.” he says, which is an honest truth. He’d been teaching the entire day, and thought he might not make it even but he knows that this is a special event, and it just so happens that Ren still is offering a ride to Keigo’s. 

Ren tells him to buckle up and he does, and Takumi is amazed at how the older man looked confident enough holding the wheel of the car. He used to not know how to drive and not have a license among all of them. It was something Takumi joked about with him, and he doesn’t even know if he’s allowed to right now because things have changed. He’s not as closed to them as they all used to before anymore, which is a solid shame. They were supposed to be family, supposed to be together forever through thick and thin. 

He snaps out of his thoughts as he focuses on the interior of Ren’s car, the light lull of the older man’s driving giving him a sense of calmness despite him having taken 2 cups of coffee earlier out of anxiety.

“Since when did you have a license?” he asks Ren to break the silence. 

“Two, or three years ago? I failed the exam twice. Ruki finds it funny still to this day.” 

“It is, kinda. I can’t believe your only enemy is driving. Literally, you can do everything except drive.” Takumi chuckles at him, and he can see Ren form that signature eye smile as he looks forward on the road. It reminds him of how handsome Ren had always been, and mad that he even forgot it in the first place.

“Well, no more of that. I’m the king of the road now.” 

“Sure you are.” he replies with a mocking tone and Ren laughs softly, nothing like the point-and-laugh thing he used to do but it’s still a beautiful sound. 

“I haven’t heard from you a lot personally, except from the stuff Sho knows.” Ren says, urging another conversation. 

“Well, yeah, I got busy I guess. I took some classes and units, got a certification so now I’m a teacher. Who would have thought?” He plays it off lightly as he traces the marks on Ren’s dashboard. 

“I do. You used to be so good at picking up things back then, I thought you might be a good teacher or choreographer of some sorts.” Ren admits and Takumi snorts. “When Sho told me about you we both thought it was fitting.” 

“What else has Sho told you about me then?”

“Just that. I heard you don’t keep in touch much with any of them.” Ren sighs, and there’s the unsaid  _ because I’m the one that used to talk to you the most _ that doesn’t get out of the mouth but is heard the most in the silence between them. “Sukai and Shosei are marrying though, but don’t tell them you know. It’s supposed to be a surprise later.” 

Takumi can see the fondness in Ren’s face as he says it, and he’s sure that the latter is genuinely happy for their two younger friends. 

“I will try, but I can’t promise if I get to drink a bit.”    
“I forgot how bad you sucked at drinking.”

“You’re worse than me, and Junki was the worst among us.” he says, the name slipping in between his lips before he can even stop himself. He immediately shoots a glance apologetically, and Ren waves it off. 

“Don’t worry. It’s fine.” 

“Okay. I’m still sorry for bringing him up though. It just slipped out.” 

“I understand, and I told you it’s fine. He’s still our friend, and he deserves to be remembered. Which is why we’re together today.”

Among many other things, Takumi forgot how mature Ren was among them. He always felt as if a small duckling followed a big swan around him, and rightfully so. It was probably also that that led them to whatever status they are right now, and there’s only him to blame because he doesn’t know how to cope and deal. 

He coughs to clear his throat, and notices the neighborhood had changed from their highway view to a more secluded location.

“I knew Keigo moved to a residential subdivision kind of area, but he didn’t mention it was in the middle of nowhere.” he remarks, as the GPS points them to a sort of remote looking area.   
“It’s supposed to be a cul de sac neighborhood for the rich. You know Keigo.” 

“That and he’s weird.” he remarks, trying to bring back the light mood between them. 

“Ruki said it’s very hard to get a spot here, much less an already built house. Don’t know how Keigo managed to get one, and we’ve known him for more than 10 years now. His money amazes me.” Ren says in amazement. “Did you know he adopted some spotted shark in Australia and named it after Junki?” 

“Did he now?” he’s actually surprised at the information as he was not aware. 

“Yeah he did. He didn’t actually tell anybody, but Ruki managed to find out from Syoya. You know Ruki.” 

“I guess he wanted to commemorate him.” he says simply, as it's the first thought in his head. 

“I think we’re here.” Ren says after a while, slowing down in front of a big gate. Takumi can see how elevated it gets inside, as if they’re going to trek up the mountain with a car. It’s been a while since the last gate they passed too, but he guesses it's a given for rich people communities. They go by the hectares.

Ren steps out of his car for a bit and buzzes in on the intercom with the camera. He says something that's muffled from Takumi’s end and the gate unlocks itself with a loud buzz sound, and Ren gets back in the car to drive forward. 

“Is it still far up?” Takumi asks, and Ren smiles at him a bit. 

“Not that much, but it's still a drive. Keigo really had to go and pick the most secluded area in here.” 

It takes them a minute or two of a drive but they get welcomed still by a minimalist house out with an overlooking view. It’s elevated compared to the rest of the neighborhood, and when Takumi stepped out of the car to stand close to the edge he could see the distance of the houses between each other. 

_ This property couldn’t have just been a simple million or ten _ , he thinks. 

Ren grabs his jacket from the back and waits for Takumi until they walk towards the front door. 

They’re both welcomed by Issei and Shosei, who are talking by the front door, with a hug, 

Shosei tells him it's been the longest time and he nods, apologizing for the delay also. 

“Don’t worry, you’re not the only ones late. Shion still hasn’t come, still hasn’t changed.” Shosei waves it off as if it’s the norm, and Takumi feels as if nothing has changed at all. “Sho and Ruki are inside, being all lovey dovey as usual so I’m warning both of you. Sukai’s also there, and he’d been actually waiting for you to arrive since 2 hours ago.” Shosei rolls his eyes as he tells Ren directly, and the older male laughs. 

“Sure, we’ll go in now. And Keigo?” Ren asks, and Takumi swore he sees a twitch of change in Issei’s face when it was asked. 

“Oh he’s there, somewhere inside.” Shosei answers again, and Takumi is about to pass by them when Shosei pulls him back. 

“So glad to see you again Takumi. We know it’s been hard, but we’re glad to have you here.” Shosei is sincere as he says it, and it makes Takumi feel warm to know nobody has turned him away despite him doing it first. 

The interior of the house is even more lavish than its exterior, with the ceilings being excessively high and the floor space concept being exceptionally open. He remembers something about Keigo telling him that he wants an open house concept, and is glad that the slightly older friend has gotten it. 

There’s a big open wall, with their CDs carefully plated inside frames and hung as if it was a museum of some sorts. It’s nostalgic, seeing things that he never thought Keigo would keep track of. There were photos of them as 11, photos of Keigo with family, and a photo of Keigo and Junki displayed in the very center. It was a private photo, not something that was released in a magazine or by their company. It was an old one, and if Takumi remembers correctly it was around 3 or 4 years into their debut. Seeing it gives him a weird sense of nostalgia, as if this is the first time he’d seen Junki and Keigo. It’s been a very long time, and he has repressed his feelings and thoughts about the previous years so much that he’d forgotten even most of them. Seeing his fellow members from before isn’t as much of a trigger as he expected, but it was still nagging an uncomfortable feeling with him, as if his breath is shortening and he wants to peel off his skin. 

Before he can even fall into another attack, he is startled by a hand on his shoulder and he turns to see Keigo putting him into a hug suddenly. 

“It’s been a really long while~!” Keigo envelops him into a hug and he still has the same lilt on his voice, the one Takumi remembers. “Thank you for coming today. It means a lot.” Keigo holds him by the shoulders to look at him properly and Takumi can notice that he changed. He’s grown thinner, and his skin is more sunkissed than ever. It doesn’t make him less handsome still, but it looked as if Keigo had seen better days health wise. There’s some dark bags under his eyes that was probably accumulated over the years, and Takumi wishes he could ask but he doesn’t know if Keigo still treats him like a best friend like that. 

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world, not when everyone else is here.” 

“Everyone  _ was _ always here Takumi.” Keigo says suddenly, as if he was insulted for some reason, but then changed as fast as lightning. “Come, let’s have some wine with Ruki in the kitchen.” he brings his peppy cheer back, and Takumi is as baffled as the next person. 

* * *

There’s something Takumi can’t quite wrap around his head, but there’s just always something happening that distracts him from actually having time to think about it. 

Ruki and Sho had delighted him into a lengthy conversation about things he missed—like Syoya earning his degree and Ren supposedly just coming back from the US where he currently runs a dance school. 

It’s embarrassing to sit there and think that back then he used to be the one that knew the most about everyone because they all felt safe with him, and yet in such a span of time he had turned out to be an outsider among many other things. It was all his fault, he can’t blame Ren, or Sho and Ruki, not even Keigo or Junki. It was only himself to blame, and him being put in a weird spot there in the middle of Keigo’s ridiculously lavish kitchen is on him. 

Ren had always dreamt of a dance school where he can teach and help young dancers just like he once was, so he felt legitimately happy for him upon hearing of it. Even after all these years he still cared about them for some reason, and their successes—even more so, Ren’s—make him proud and happy for them. 

Aside from the talk in the car, he hasn’t had the chance to talk to Ren again, mostly because the latter had been preoccupied by Shosei and Sukai into a discussion about something. 

When Sho and Ruki excuse themselves to help with preparing the food, he finally thought he was going to have at least a time to breathe out again—he’s not used to these things anymore—but he’s tugged at the hem of his shirt by Issei whom he hasn’t had a chance to speak with yet.

Time treated Issei well, he actually looks like an actor who could easily be called a household name loved by everyone. He is, technically, being one of them who actually stayed in the industry when most had left. Last he’s heard, Issei had been a lead for a morning daily drama that has a lot of ratings. He also got the Kamen Rider role he so badly wanted a few years ago, and Takumi made a mental note to at least try and watch that for him. 

“Can I speak with you?” he asks, his tone hushed down. 

“Sure, anytime.” 

“Not here, outside.” 

There’s something to the tone of his voice, and Takumi nods as he follows the younger out. 

The sun is setting and the clear sky is exceptionally visible when they stepped outside. It’s a pretty pastel color mix of orange and purple, and Takumi looks at it as he trails to where Issei leads him. There’s like a viewing deck, of which you can stand around and probably chill with a glass of wine while overlooking the view. There’s no one else outside (as expected everyone is indoors), and Issei turns around, his back facing the house. It makes Takumi lose his sight of the overlooking area and focus on the younger male, who looks slightly disturbed.

“Have you talked to Keigo already?” he asked, voice in a hush still. 

“Just a split moment when I arrived, and why are you whispering? Nobody can hear us.” he points out, and Issei shushes him a bit. 

“We’re not so sure about that, so I would rather keep it down for now so as to not alarm everyone.” 

“I don’t understand.” 

“Keigo is acting weird. No, it’s not the typical thing we know of him. You and I know that fully well.”

“I don’t see anything wrong with him. He seems recovered at the most. He’s talking to people and hosting this thing.” he says, simply putting out his observation. 

“Doesn’t it feel weird that after all these years there’s suddenly a reunion? Like this? Initiated by Keigo?” Issei tries to gauge some reaction into him, and honestly there is also a pit in his stomach that is asking the same thing but he thought it was just him overthinking things like he usually did. 

“Maybe he just missed us. We’re still a group, more or less. Friends, family, brothers.” he tries to rationalize, and Issei doesn’t look quite the bit convinced. 

“He told me earlier that he hopes everyone will be able to make it, because he wants to be together for the last time.” Issei whispers rather alarmingly.

“What?” 

“I thought it was weird, that he would say that.” 

“Have you told anyone else?” 

“Not yet, I didn’t want them to think weird of him and mess it up if ever I was just overthinking it.” 

“But you’re telling me this.” 

“Because you’re his best friend.” 

“Was. I don’t think he considers me for that title anymore.” 

“—but still. You were. Sho wouldn’t tell it to your face upfront but we all think you should talk to him too. It’s been years.” Issei just sounds downright tired, and Takumi kind of gets it. 

“I’ll try.” he says, earnest and hopeful and Issei rests on that. 

The youngest excuses himself to call Shion, and Takumi makes his way back to the house to try and get to socialize with some people. Ren pats the seat next to him in the living area, and at first he thinks if it's okay but Ren makes the gesture again and so he does. He remembers Ren telling him to never feel like a stranger around him, and so he honors that. 

They ask him about the things he does now (teaching, and more teaching) and he talks them through it enough for them to not pry more but also not bore them, since he thought he led a less interesting life than them. Syoya got his degree and is focusing on his fashion line, and Sho and Ruki are working as middle management in Yoshimoto. Shion is neither here nor there, and nobody is certain as to what he’s been actually up to all this time. Sukai says Shion said he’s “freelancing”, making air quotes with his fingers that Shosei hits him in the arm with. As Ren mentioned, Sukai and Shosei really are marrying each other after being together for the longest time, and peacefully runs a restaurant in Kansai. Keigo has been here and there, apparently fulfilling Junki’s dream of backpacking around the world on behalf of him. Everybody knows he was financially capable to do it, and nobody just can’t seem to stop Keigo from doing things like that. Back then, Takumi used to have a say, until there came a point he didn’t. 

“I heard that you run a dance school now. That’s so cool.” he opens up, and Ren smiles as he nods his head. 

“It’s nothing too big, but it’s something.” 

“Something is better than nothing.” he replies, and Ren is still slightly nodding his head.

Talking with Ren had always been something that was comfortable to him, like breathing, but right now even as he sat beside him less than a feet apart it felt like he always had to be on his toes for him. He wants to shake it off and just talk there with Ren genuinely, without the worrying plaguing him a mile a minute. 

They all sit there and talk as if nothing ever happened, the way they treat each other never changed and Takumi sat there in silence observing them. It almost takes him back to the time when they were all promoting together, and it makes him realize that it really was only him that changed, and not the people around him. It gets him distracted on his thoughts, and he excuses himself to get something to drink from the kitchen again. 

Keigo is there, and he smiles a little at him, a polite one just to acknowledge his presence.

“It’s been a long while.” 

“Yeah, it has been.” 

“How have you been?” Keigo asks him, and he sounds so calm and mature, as if the years have finally caught up to him.    
“I’m all good. Barely made it, but I guess I’m all good.” he says, biting on the inside of his cheek a bit as he swirls the glass in his hand. “How about you? I haven’t heard anything much about you.” he says awkwardly. He didn’t know how else to put it anyway. 

“I’ve seen better days, but after moving from one place to another and getting to connect with people with many stories of opportunities, it made me realize a lot of things.” Keigo professes. 

There’s a pregnant pause between them, and Takumi thinks back to the thing Issei told him earlier. 

“I know it’s been a long while, and I haven’t been the best friend that you needed me to be for you back then, and I’m just—” 

“—it’s fine, Takumi. I never held it against you anyway. It was a tough period.” Keigo cuts him off, leaning on the kitchen island. “Back then, I was upset and sad, and as I grew older I realized that you were feeling the same back then. It was fine, that you couldn’t be there. For me. For us. You had your own battle, it was just that.” 

Takumi is surprised at how verbose the older male is now. Keigo used to be a bumbling mess of things, scared of being suddenly put to speak impromptu and tended to trip all over his train of thought. This one is calm and collected in front of him, and for a second Takumi forgets it’s Keigo whom he’s talking to. 

The period that Junki died was also the time Takumi and Ren were having a falling out, and the red haired male then was struggling with how to cope and handle things at the time. Both of them were having concerns with how they were as a couple at the time, and it tired Takumi to the point that it always led from one irritated fight to another. He wasn’t in the right headspace at the time, and then suddenly he had to grieve over losing someone that’s as close to him as Junki. It was too much for him, that he refused to let anybody in and just began to shut himself out because he thought there was no other thing to do. The members didn’t urge him, and tried to respect his decision, but it wasn;t an easy one and it caused more rafts than ever.

“Did you and Ren ever—” 

“No.” he says immediately. “We broke up after that, and I just don’t remember much anymore. It’s a blur, but you know. We’re a team, so we had to still do our job back then.” 

Keigo nods, as if understanding, and he probably does. If it was hard for the JO1 members then it was the worst for Keigo. They had to continue working, promoting, and it just went on and on until the pain they used to carry became numb and everything was just a fragment of the past. Something to recollect with, something to use as a purpose to get together almost 10 years later. 

“I’m sorry, really Keigo. I wish I could have dealt with it better back then. I’m here today and I look at everyone and I, the regrets kind of just keep on washing in. I could have been a better friend to you, and to everyone else. I feel like I missed a lot, and wasted a lot of time.” he admits, and Keigo walks from the other side of the counter to give him a light hug. 

“You don’t have to feel sad or burdened anymore by your struggles Takumi. No need to feel apologetic or regretful about anything. Tonight, I will free you from all of this, and you will no longer feel alone, or pain.” Keigo says as he pats Takumi in the back in a hug, and for some reason Takumi thought it should be comforting but it doesn’t. 

“What do you mean by that Keigo?” he asks, but Keigo frees him from the hug and leads him by the hand. 

“Let’s go join the others. I think Shion has arrived.” 

* * *

Shion arrived late due to his GPS being broken and he ended up getting lost twice. 

By the time Takumi and Keigo have rejoined the group in the living room all the center of attention is at Shion and they’re all talking over each other almost. Takumi looks to the side to see Keigo just watching them, his face unreadable. Takumi wants to pretend it's some emotion like reminiscent or fondness, but it’s blank. 

There’s all ten of them in the room, one less person from the original eleven, but they’re there—and it makes Takumi hold his breath. It really has been too long. 

Someone, Takumi couldn’t quite catch who, has initiated that they rewatch their old content on the television and then it was okay and everyone got excited at first then immediately put to a halt as they all looked at Keigo for validation, as if asking for his blessing. 

“It’s fine. I’d love for us to watch him, and the point of all of this was to actually commemorate him, and us.” Keigo says simply, and Sho gives him a nod before Syoya flicks through the content upon receipt of approval. 

They ended up watching music videos they’ve had over the years, performances and compilation clips of things they’ve done before but they barely remember now—and throughout all of this Takumi has made his way back into sitting beside Ren again. The older male laughs and sings along, makes little side remarks here and there and whenever they appear in the same frame together doing something he can’t help but instinctively look at the latter, as if to check if there was a reaction. It was a hard habit to break he never got to free himself away from. Ren’s facial expression never changed, just more on the nostalgic side of things ever since they started. 

They watch Junki sing and dance on the frame, and laugh with them and raise the tension of the team up with his cheer. Hearing his voice after the longest time invoked tears in Takumi, he finds himself secretly wiping him off. Ren puts a hand on top of his and gives him a light squeeze, eyes still focused on the screen. 

Takumi couldn’t help but notice the way Keigo looks at the screen, the same as he did years ago. Still as lovestruck as ever, and for a second he gets a tiny bit jealous. He doesn’t know why but he does, and the train of thought leads him back to Ren again. 

“I’ve missed you guys, all of us like this.” Shosei says, snuggled up to Sukai in one of the couches. “It never really fully hit me how I missed all of us until today.” 

“Yeah, me too. It’s nice to have everyone finally together here. You too Takumi, you being here means a lot to us.” Ruki adds, and Takumi tilts his head to look back at him and smile. 

“Thank you for still having me here today, and I’m sorry, for distancing myself over the years, I really am.” he apologizes to everyone, and Ren squeezes his hand again. 

“It’s fine Takumi, you didn’t have to force yourself if you didn’t want to, and we thought it might be best if we let you go on your own accord. We aren’t mad at you for that, so I hope you don’t think of it negatively anymore.” Sho tells him as he nods. 

“That’s true, and if we keep ourselves too hung up on the mistakes of our past we can never move forward to a better beyond.” Keigo adds, and Ren snorts.    
“Who are you and what have you done to our Keigo?” he teases, and Keigo gives a simple smile. 

“I met up with this really nice and welcoming community when I was travelling, and staying with them had opened my mind to a far wider range of viewing and perceiving life.” Keigo shifts in his seat, and everyone points their attention to him. “They believed that the mistakes we made in life and the consequences it brought are what made us humans, and those things—the memories we have here can be carried over to the next life, an afterlife where there is no pain and suffering. You go with the flow of life, and you have the control on when do you want to jump to the great beyond.” 

Keigo speaks in such a calm tone, and everyone is quiet as he speaks that Takumi swears he can hear Ren breathe beside him. 

“Where’s this community from, I kind of want to have what they’re having.” Shion half jokes, in an attempt to say something and there’s something that glints in Keigo’s eye. 

“Well you can have! There is no formal ceremony that must be done in order to apply their belief into your life, you just have to think and manifest it to exist. I tried hard to find myself again, to heal after we lost Junki, and things never felt right until I experienced it for myself. The feeling of letting go, and knowing that there is a place out there willing to accept such broken humans and promise of a life of reunion to those we long for, I think it’s something that we all deserve.”

“It sounds cult-y to me. No offense.” Ruki says, always being the one that has no filter on them. 

“None taken, it’s just a matter of perspective. Humans have always had a hard time to accept concepts that are foreign to them, but trust me it gets better.” Keigo says, the tone a bit too sweet for Takumi’s perception. “Anyway, I actually prepared something.” 

Keigo excuses himself to go to the kitchen area, and the moment he’s out of earshot Syoya and Sukai are making faces at each other. 

“What the hell was that about?” Sukai asks, kicking Shion’s back who’s sitting on the beanbag on the floor lightly. “Is he talking about death?” 

“The Great Beyond.” Ruki corrects mockingly, and Sho glares at him. 

“I have to agree with Ruki; it sounds pretty weird to me—” Shion agrees, nodding towards Ruki’s direction. 

“It sounds like something out of a self help book, or some spiritual psychology thing. Please don’t make it weird.” Sho scolds them both. “Let’s not ruin the night, and let’s respect Keigo.” 

“Come on guys, be nice to Keigo.” Ren shushes both the younger members, and they end it at that. Once Sho and Ren had decided together it was something they never question or contest. 

Takumi finds Issei staring at him shaking his head, and he gives him a light nod. 

Keigo comes back in a short while carrying a simple decorated cake, with the words congratulations on top of it. 

“This one is for Shosei and Sukai, a little offering from me for your lives to be as happy and as fruitful from here on out.” Keigo brings the cake to them, and Shosei beams up at the older members. 

“You didn’t have to Keigo—” 

“—no please, I insist. I would have given you both a more grandiose gift of some sort, but then again it’s the memories that we can bring with us all the time.” Keigo assures them, and Shosei takes the cake from his hands only to swipe the icing from the side and put it on Sukai’s nose. 

“We love it. Thank you Keigo.” Sukai nods, and Keigo looks fulfilled. 

Takumi watches them fondly, playing with the icing of the cake Keigo made and everyone else trying to make sounds, and realizes Ren is still holding his hand to which he slowly retracts out of awkwardness. Ren glances at him and makes an apologetic smile, and proceeds on making fun of Sukai and Shosei just to tease them. 

“I’ll just set up the dinner for us in a bit, but it won’t take long. Feel free to freshen up before we eat.” Keigo says, taking the cake along with him to bring back to the kitchen after half of it was already eaten. 

“Do you need some help?” Sho asks, standing up to offer assistance but Keigo turns him down.

“You’re the guests, let me do it all.” 

Keigo leaves them all alone, and the group begins to disperse again. Sukai and Shosei had excused themselves to get cleaned up from the mess from the cake and asked Keigo for directions, and Sho and Ruki stayed more to watch more videos of them. Syoya, Shion, and Issei had gone out to get some fresh air and Takumi wants to join them but instead gets pulled by Ren towards one of the studies. 

They enter one of the empty unlocked rooms and Ren closes it after them. It seems to be a guest room of some sorts. 

“I wanted to talk to you, for a bit, but I don’t think it’s best to have their prying eyes on us. You know.” Ren starts, walking towards where he found his way to sit on the corner of the bed. 

“You apologized earlier. I want to, as well. I don’t think I properly have told you that ever since all of this happened.” Ren starts off, meek and Takumi sighs to listen to him. 

“I felt that we could have handled our relationship better but we just kept on hurting each other more. Then Junki happened and I—I should have seen that, how you felt and all, and I’m sorry for leaving you just like that. I know you’re going to try and apologize again, but I want us to just put all down as water under the bridge for us.”    
“Ren—” 

“—It’s not something that’s easy to forget, but, I just hope that we can still be friends again. If you can just let me, _ us _ , in your life again. That’s good enough for me. I’m sorry Takumi. I should have been there for you when you needed me the most.” 

“I’m a liar if I don’t say that I didn’t get mad at you back then, but over time and as everything felt more of a memory than a fresh event it made me think about things between us too—and I have to agree that while none of us are perfect we both could have been better to each other. But then again there’s that, and it’s all passed.” 

“I know. I spent too much time trying to blame myself for being part of why Junki died. I should have been the one on that van instead of Junki.” 

“It wasn’t your fault Ren. It wasn’t any of us—and I’ve long since forgiven you. I’ve forgiven everything and everyone, it’s just that it was hard for me to go back again you know? I felt like, maybe what if I didn’t have a place anymore in everyone’s lives. What if the group didn’t want me again? I had those doubts.”

“It’s fine now. It’s all a thing of the past now and we can move on past that.” Ren assures him, and he nods. He says his name again, and wants to say a lot of things but ends up just reaching out to Ren and enveloping him in a hug. 

They close the gap and kiss for what seems to be the longest time, and it gives him a certain feeling of warmth that Takumi hasn’t felt ever since. Ren’s hands make its way to his nape, pulling him in closer and sliding his knee in between his legs. They fit together like that, and Takumi doesn’t want to let go. 

They do so eventually, when they have finally run out of breath and they can hear the faint calls of Sho from outside. The house is big but is quiet enough, and they take it as a cue to go. Ren fixes his shirt and Takumi’s hair and he giggles at him, earning another one from Takumi. It feels silly, like how they used to go in between practices trying to find a blind spot in the office just to make out because they got each other riled up during practice. 

They made their way back to where everyone else was, and found most of them in the dining area already. There’s a simple feast set up, and wine for everyone. Takumi finds himself in an empty seat between Issei and Ruki and Ren sits across him. 

“I would just like to have a toast before we start off.” Keigo clears his throat, grabbing everyone’s attention. Syoya, who was already picking on the food, was forced to retract his hands and pretend everyone didn’t see him. Keigo doesn’t seem to mind though. 

“I thank everyone for being present today, as we celebrate life and togetherness. These past few years have never been one the kinder to us, we have had our pain, our ups and downs that we shared, and maybe even kept on to ourselves. Today we shall free ourselves from all worries in life and live harmoniously, together forever—and never to part again.” Keigo makes his speech and raises his glass. They raise their own as a form of cheers and some had begun to drink from it, and Takumi for some reason finds himself watching Keigo as he moves the lip of the glass towards him. 

“To Junki, you don’t have to wait anymore. We will come to you now.” Takumi can hear Keigo say the words before Ruki falls headfirst to the table, followed by multiple others. Someone screams (Shosei?) and Takumi finds himself knocked out of his chair in shock. The wine glass he’s holding was flung out of his hand by Issei and has shattered on the floor beside him. 

“What the fuck!” Sukai yells, pushing his chair back only for Syoya’s unconscious body to slide to the floor beside him like a limp piece of bread. 

“Keigo what have you done?” Takumi can hear Shosei’s worried voice from the other side of the table from where he’s down. 

He gets up slowly to see some of them fallen. Ruki and Sho, and Syoya and Shion, all seem to have looked like they were just passed out on the table. Takumi moves Ruki’s head and finds foaming from his mouth, and Takumi has read enough to know what immediately it is. 

Keigo has stood up from where he is sitting, visibly upset and mouth formed into a wrinkle of despair. 

“We were supposed to all go together!” Keigo yells in disbelief, much different to the calm demeanor he had kept the entire night. This one is hysterical, seething like a kid robbed of his candy, but only in a more frantic manner. “Fuck, fuck fuck fuck! Fucking shit! Fuck!” Keigo goes into a screaming rant, smashing the plate and his fist on the table, and Takumi had seen Shosei and Sukai backed up in the corner on the other side of the room slowly being guided by Ren while Keigo is distracted. “Okay Keigo, calm down. Junki wouldn’t like to see you mad like this.” Keigo talks, more to himself than anyone else in the room and Issei tugs at the hem of his shirt but he can’t seem to peel away his eyes from Keigo, who meets his gaze. 

“Fuck! Whatever, we all have to go together.” Keigo pushes the chair from behind him and pulls something from the side of his jeans to which he pulls out a gun, immediately firing towards his direction. Issei pulls him down and they all barely manage to avoid it, and he can hear Ren screaming for them to run and so he does. 

The house is big, but this is a new place that they don’t know and Keigo is more well versed at. It didn’t even matter for Takumi at that point, all he knows is he needs to run away, to hide somewhere.    
“You were right.” he tells Issei in a short breath as they try to get away, and Issei—with all his athleticism and training for doing an action role—has managed to pull him faster to get at least down the stairs without tripping.    
“Of course I’m always right, but  _ fuck _ that’s so messed up—” Issei tries to say in between the bullet shots they hear and they manage to find one of the rooms that are luckily unlocked. They close it immediately and get something to block off the entrance, to which a small shelf did. 

They’re both panting when they have managed to close out the door and the windows, pulling back the curtains just in case. 

They sit on the floor in total silence, trying to make as less noise as possible. 

It finally sinks to him that their other friends are dead, and one of their own friends is out to get them also without remorse. 

Issei is sitting with his back leaned on the shelf by the door, and it takes Takumi a minute to realize he’s crying in silence. He reaches out to him and gives him a hug, and it feels as if the person in his arms right now is the 17 year old kid they all used to dote on before. Young and scared, highly uncertain of everything. 

They hear shuffling outside, footsteps getting louder as every second ticked past. Takumi puts his hand on Issei’s mouth to prevent his sobs from getting heard and as the sound gets closer Takumi realizes its doors are banging open. There is a banging sound once, then twice on the door, and Takumi tries to scan the room for anything that can be used for defense. The third time it gets kicked open and Takumi barely makes it out of the way, dashing to where the windows are. Keigo cocks and loads, shoots Issei straight in before the younger could do anything else and Takumi screams in shock and horror. Keigo has it aimed at him next but as Keigo pulls the trigger there is nothing, the gun has run out of bullets and Takumi breaks open the window to jump on it outside. 

He finds himself on the smaller roof of the veranda, barely falling on something meters high before he manages to get his balance. There’s scratches on him that he can barely care for. Keigo has followed him, pulling his small frame towards him and putting him on a chokehold. 

“We  **have** to go now, or else we wouldn’t get to be there all together with Junki.” Keigo says, squeezing the hell out of his throat. He tries to pry his hands off of him but Keigo is stronger, and he had more muscles that squished on Takumi’s face cutting him off of airspace. 

“Y—you’re insane.” he manages to spit out, “You’re not Keigo.” 

“Keigo died when Junki did, and none of you ever even bothered to notice.” Keigo says, squeezing his throat harder. Takumi is beginning to see stars spotting his vision the more Keigo doesn’t let go of his hold, and with all of his power left he tries to flip them over where they end up falling from the roof. 

Keigo hits the floor first before he does, but the impact is still as painful as he expected it to be. He landed on his right side, giving him a disadvantage to get up faster. He’s pretty sure he’s also bleeding, and he hasn’t quite recuperated yet from being choked out. 

Keigo gets up faster and manages to pull him indoors again, dragging his struggling body towards the living area again gripping on to him. Keigo is trying to look for something, when Ren comes up to the older unsuspecting and hits him on the head with a vase.    
“Are you okay?” Ren asks, helping him up while Keigo is still down on the floor. “You have blood on you, were you shot?” 

“No, we fell from the roof.” he says breathless, hanging on to Ren. 

Takumi finds himself slipping down fast as Keigo gets a hold of his leg, pinning him down to which Ren immediately covers for. He tries to pry Keigo away from Takumi. 

There’s nothing of reach that can be used to exert effort into bash onto Keigo’s head, and so Ren tries to buy time by punching Keigo in the face and fighting him off with his bare hands.    
“What the fuck has gone wrong with you?” Ren grunts in between his teeth, and when Takumi has fully gotten up he dashes into the kitchen to look for the knives, anything that can help Ren with. He trips on something and falls to the ground, smashing his face first. He rubs his forehead to see Sukai and Shosei’s bloodied bodies down on the ground, where presumably Keigo had gotten them dead. He chokes out a sound of horror and shock yet again, but tries to frantically look around for where Keigo would have kept the knives. He opens one drawer after another and finds one, a simple kitchen knife. 

He takes it with him and goes back to where Keigo and Ren are still battling physically on the floor. Ren has put Keigo in a disadvantage, with the back of his arm pressed against Keigo’s throat but the younger male is also gripping part of Ren’s neck and face. 

“Keigo give it up!” Ren yells, exerting more pressure on Keigo’s throat to the point that the latter is making choking sounds.    
“J—junki is—” Keigo tries to choke out in between, “he’s w—waiting for us—in the other side—and the other mem—bers a—are also there now—”    
“No they’re not! Get a grip on yourself!” Ren growls in between his teeth and Takumi wants to pass him the knife but from where they’re struggling at the moment he couldn’t risk giving it to Keigo instead. “You killed everyone!” 

Ren has managed to get a knee on Keigo’s stomach, to which ignites a series of coughing fits for Keigo. Takumi tries to get close, handling the knife to Ren but gets tripped and kicked by Keigo’s leg, to which he falls and the knife clatters to the ground.    
Keigo makes a big leap and pushes Ren off, grabbing the knife that fell on the ground and slashes it blindly away from him. It slashes Takumi in the face, barely missing his eye and he falls back in pain. Ren tries to charge and pry the knife but ends up getting stabbed by Keigo once in the stomach, then twice in the chest and more until Ren’s blood has spilled on the floor and Takumi can hear his desperate chokes out. He cries out, calling for Ren’s name, crawling his way to reach for his hand, or any part of the older male when he feels a foot on his back, crushing his lungs out of breath and a sharp pain. He cries out, not sure if it was his own name, or Ren’s, or Keigo’s, or any of the other members. But he cries out one cut after another, until he doesn’t remember anymore. 

* * *

It takes Keigo more or less an hour to keep everyone together again. 

Dragging Ren and Takumi in towards the 2nd floor dining room was such a hassle, not to mention the blood trail that it left behind. It’s not like he’s going to clean it anyway, it’s just a shame the new carpets had to be dirtied out. He was hoping for a clean and fast death. 

The plan was to drink the wine or eat the food, and go quietly and easily. Without pain, just out instantly like that. He should have figured out that Issei would try to interfere, that kid was always too smart for his own good. He had to admit Ren gave him a good fight, and Takumi held on surprisingly longer than he expected. 

He hated to do it, he hated to exert extra more effort like that but it had to be done. They can never achieve the true unity and peace they had in this world, not in this dimension. Junki’s death was the beginning of the downward spiral of the team, from Ren and Takumi ignoring each other until Takumi ignored the rest and the others had tried to move on and cope by pursuing their personal interests. Nobody talked about Junki anymore, and it frustrated him that they acted as if he never existed only because he was taken first away from them. Keigo always remembered though, and he still feels the unfairness of it all that if there was ever a God out there, why did he have to take Junki first of all people. Upon hearing of the words of the community and how there is hope to the afterlife, he knew instantly it was the way to go. He can be with everyone together again, and be like how they were in the old days. 

He chants the prayers he saw the elders did as he dragged the bodies up, praying just to ensure that everyone gets to have a proper send off. He places off the bodies one by one from where they originally sat, and it takes him a bit longer than expected due to the lack of participation in making sure the corpses stay actually seated. 

When he manages to do so, he looks at the clock and sees it’s a little over around 12AM. He had just placed the last empty chair on the other side of the table, opposite his chair which stood at the end. He looks at the other members peacefully sitting with their eyes closed, no sound, just the ticking of the wall clock and the sound of wind outside. 

He raises his refilled wine glass, taking a long pause before drinking it all in on one go. 

That cold night in October, they had all come together, reunited once again. 

**Author's Note:**

> tldr; junki was involved in an accident, and ren at the time was having relationship issues with takumi and blaming himself because it was supposed to be his schedule at the time. takumi was struggling on coping with everything going on with ren and the loss and felt bad he cant make himself emotionally available to comfort his best friend keigo on top of it all. and keigo, well he's bonkers as usual
> 
> if you've watched the movie The Invitation, yes, that was one of the inspirations for this one.
> 
> happy spooktober! (kinda)


End file.
